More Madness!

I'd like to first make another comment on Syracuse not getting in: I'm sick and tired of Jim Boeheim lobbying to expand the tournament. The thought of that is ridiculous. So you expand it to 128 teams, then what? There will still be people bitching about their team not getting in. The format is perfect the way it is, leave it alone!

Tonight is the Play in game, oh, I'm sorry it is now referred to as the Opening Round (have to be politically correct here!). Who cares about this game? Nobody. They should do away with it. Or, they should have the last two bubble teams to get in play in it, not two teams who did what was asked of them by winning their conference tournament. Just another way the selection committee sticks it to the little guy.

Anyway.....


EAST

North Carolina gets the #1 seed here, and they deserve it. They have a young, talent laiden team and have one of the premier coaches in basketball. They should have no problem getting past the first round, but the path after that gets a little harder.

UNC will play the winner of the 8-9 matchup between Michigan State and Marquette two quality programs who are having down years. This is another matchup between student and teacher, as Marquette coach Tom Crean was a longtime assistant under MSU coach Tom Izzo. Both coaches have Final Four experience. MSU has a very young team, but I don't know if there is a better coach come tourny time than Izzo. I think MSU will win here and give UNC a run for their money, but in the end the Tarheels will prevail.

The 5-12 matchup pits USC vs. Arkansas. No upset here. Arkansas should be playing in the NIT, not this tournament. Look for Tim Floyd and Co. to blow the Razorbacks out.

The 4-13 matchup has Texas vs. New Mexico State. The Longhorns have the most exciting player in basketball in Kevin Durant. This guy is a stud, one who could carry his team a long way ala Carmello Anthony did a few years with Syracuse. New Mexicao State is no slouch though. Coach Reggie Theius has this program heading in the right direction. I just think Durant will be too much for them to handle though. I will go as far as to say Texas will knock off USC in the next round too.

#6 Vanderbuilt against #11 George Washington. GW is another underrated team and I think they will pull off the upset and send the Commodores home early.

Washington State vs. Oral Roberts. Reminds me of a joke: What do you call two gay guys named Bob? Oral Roberts. Washington State has a great team this year and should have no problem making it to the Sweet 16.

#7 Boston College vs. #10 Texas Tech. Upset here as the winningest coach in college basketball will chalk up another victory and move on to the second round. Air General shouldn't be choking any of his players during this one as the Red Raiders pull off the upset.

That means Texas Tech will play the toast of the Big East, Georgetown. Its the second coming of the Georgetown Dynasty of the 80's: John Thompson III takes over where his dad left off, and Patrick Ewing Jr., who is a different type of player than his dad was (and looks more like a human and less like a star of those Geico commercials than his dad does) make people wax nostalgic of the great Hoyas teams of past. Look for them to go to the Elite Eight.

Coming out of this region I see Kevin Durant take all his anger out on his foes after losing a heartbreaker to Kansas in the Big XII Championship, disposing of UNC and Georgetown along the way.


SOUTH

I think the easiest road for a #1 seed is paved in the South. There Big Ten champion and #1 ranked team Ohio State should go all the way with ease. Yet another young team, most of their players will probably be lottery picks in this June's NBA draft. If not for the new rule of having to spend 1 year in college before going pro this team would be average. But coach Thad Motta rolled the dice for one year here and it should pay off. Greg Oden, who outside the aforementioned Durant is the best player in the game, is just now getting back to normal after an early season wrist injury sidelined him for awhile. In the second round they will play the winner of BYU vs. Xavier. Look for the X Men to win and set up an in state matchup with the Buckeyes where OSU will put on a show.

The 5-12 matchup is Tennessee vs. Long Beach State. Let me first state this: For the second year in a row Tennessee got a gift when it came to seeding. Bruce Pearl is known for openly lobbying with the selection committee and it must be paying off. I'm taking Tennessee here, but that is just because I am not too keen on Long Beach State. I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if there was another 5-12 upset here though. Let's just hope Vols Women's coach Pat Summitt doesn't dress in a cheerleader outfit again, or, worse yet, come out and strip at center court.

Whoever wins there plays the winner of Virginia vs. Albany. Out of the four #4 seeds I think Virginia is the weakest. Albany is definitely a sleeper, but as a safe pick I'm taking Virginia. Whoever wins this game should beat the winner of Tennessee/LBS.

Louisville vs. Stanford. Louisville. Pitino. Playing a team that should not be in the tourny. Louisville kicks the shit out of them.

Texas A & M vs. Penn. Do I even have to go through this one? Acie Law IV is a stud. A&M is vastly underrated. They are playing an Ivy League team. Bye bye Penn.

Nevada vs. Creighton. I love both teams. The Wolfpack went 25-4 and are a # 7 seed? The Bluejays won the Missouri Valley Tournament (#5 conference RPI, in front of the Big XII and fractions of a point behind the Big East, so don't try and use the weak conference arguement this year with them), were in the hunt until the last week of the season for the regular season title, and they are a 10 seed? Nick Fazekas vs. Nate Funk, and Creighton's big man Anthony Tolliver is no slouch either. This will be a can't miss game to watch. This one will go down to the wire, but I think Creighton will eek out the win.

Finally there is Memphis. They got the #2 seed. I wonder who John Calipari had to blow to get that. Sure, they went 30-3 and won their conference tournament, but they play in Conference USA. That used to be one of the premier conferences up until a couple of years ago when the Big East took all of the talented schools such as Marquette, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Louisville. Memphis was smart: they knew they would have free reign over a highly inept conference. I just don't understand how Nevada gets a #7 seed and Memphis gets a #2 seed. Nevada had one more loss, but I challenge anybody to try to prove to me that the WAC is not a highly superior conference over the one that Memphis plays in. Anyway, Memphis should beat North Texas, but who knows? I think North Texas is actually better than any of the teams in Conference USA, so anything could happen. All I know is John Calipari's hummers can't save his ass in the second round where he will lose badly to the winner of the Creighton/Nevada game.

I see a Texas A&M vs. Ohio State showdown in the Elite Eight, with the Buckeyes ending the Aggies dream.


FINAL FOUR


Florida, UCLA, Texas, and Ohio State. There will be a repeat of the football National Championship game with Florida causing even more problems for Ohio State and defending their crown.